With all the talk of Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver lately, it’s
easy to ignore the person who right now is, given her current address,
the most influential voice on food policy in the country. Naturally,
I’m talking about First Lady Michelle Obama. While she’s been
exercising what diplomats would call her “soft power” for a while, i.e.
planting a garden, making speeches on healthy eating, and so on,
indications are that she’s quietly developing a set of policy
recommendations to reform the food system. Obama Foodorama has been
tirelessly reporting on these maneuvers, which have remained under the
radar—even to the point of Mrs. Obama holding “secret meetings” between
her policy team and USDA officials.
The speeches continue—she gave another one just the other day at the Department of Health and Human Services. But according to Ob Fo,
the First Lady’s policy team—White House Food Initiatives Coordinator
Sam Kass and Policy Director Jocelyn Frye—are currently fleshing out a
new set of national food and health initiatives.
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Is Michelle Obama About to Take on Big Food?
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By Tom Laskawy
Grist Magazine, Oct 14, 2009
Straight to the Source
